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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23684101">In Shadows</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal'>primeideal</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character must regularly turn into a tree, Gen, Illegal and Unauthorized Treat, pre-relationship if you squint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 16:34:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23684101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/primeideal/pseuds/primeideal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassie wasn't at the mall that night, and she's not an <i>estreen</i>. She still has her own expertise, though.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>What Fen Do (Instead of Going Outside), When Death Loves Flamingos</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>In Shadows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConvenientAlias/gifts">ConvenientAlias</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"If we're going to fight the Yeerks," said Marco, "which I still think is an incredibly dangerous and stupid idea, we need better animals. I mean, no offense, Jake, but your dog and Tobias' cat aren't exactly gonna put the fear into anyone."</p><p>"You're right," said Rachel. "We should go to The Gardens and see if we can get close to the animals there."</p><p>"And you're gonna buy all our tickets? Can you get me a new PlayStation while you're at it?"</p><p>"I was thinking we could ask Cassie. Her mom works there, she probably has some kind of guest pass."</p><p>"Your friend Cassie?" Jake asked. "I thought she was really sick. Didn't she drop out of school?"</p><p>"Not really, I mean, I guess they're home-schooling her. She has ACD."</p><p>"What's that stand for?" Marco asked.</p><p>"I...forget," said Rachel. "It's the one where, you know, you turn into a tree."</p><hr/><p>Cassie was happy to get them tickets the first time. By the second or third, she had questions. Sure, Jake and Rachel had always been close, but Marco? And who was the Tobias kid following them around?</p><p>"No," Rachel rolled her eyes, "Marco and I are <em>not</em> dating, we're just--doing research. For science."</p><p>"Mhm," said Cassie.</p><p>They weren't able to scope her out as rigorously as they wanted, but ultimately they decided the benefits of having her on their side outweighed the risk. "Besides," Jake pointed out, "I don't think even the Yeerks want to be trees."</p><p>"We were hoping you would have some advice," Rachel said. "About, you know, morphing."</p><p>"I'm not really sure it's that similar," Cassie said hesitantly.</p><p>"Not that similar?" Marco blurted. "We're turning into animals, and the only other person in light-years with that power is being controlled by an evil slug-dude. You're the closest thing to similar we have."</p><p>"You said you have to <em>touch</em> the animal? I wonder...there are some injured animals in my dad's barn. That might work."</p><p>"Won't your parents wonder what's going on?" Rachel asked. "Bringing a bunch of kids over to play with the animals?"</p><p>"I don't think they'll mind. If anything, they'll just be glad I have friends."</p><p>"You have me," Rachel snapped.</p><hr/><p>"Being a cat, it's like--crazy. Because it takes a minute to get control, at first you're just like, <em>Whoa! I'm a cat! All these people are so huge!</em> And then I remember that I'm myself, Rachel, but in the back of my head there are still these cat instincts."</p><p>"It's not like that for me. I don't--I think my brain is asleep. I mean, trees don't have brains, right? So where would it even go?"</p><p>"But you said you can remember what it's like, afterwards."</p><p>"Not really. I mean, I can tell the difference between cold days and really hot days, but it's not that distinct, it's all kind of blurry."</p><p>"We live in California," said Rachel, "there's no such thing as a really cold day."</p><p>"I heard there was a case of a guy in Minnesota or somewhere, they say he could tell when his leaves were on versus off. Autumn is the worst for the deciduous people."</p><p>"I'm worried about, like, bears. What if the instincts of a bear are too overwhelming and I can't get my own brain back?"</p><p>"Bears aren't actually that threatening," said Cassie. "If you don't have cubs with you, you should be fine."</p><p>"I'm fighting for Earth here, okay? I'm <em>supposed</em> to be threatening. To the aliens." Rachel sighed. "We'll make Marco turn into a cub if I need motivation, I guess. It might even make him taller."</p><hr/><p>If the human Animorphs had been pests when it came to wanting to know how Arboreal Cyclic Disorder worked, Aximili was unbearable. &lt;Why are you a pine tree,&gt; he asked, &lt;and not some other kind of tree?&gt;</p><p>"Torrey Pines are native to San Diego," said Cassie. "That's what my parents think, anyway. There isn't enough data to be sure."</p><p>&lt;Are you a Guide Tree? Do you--play some role of religious significance in your community?&gt;</p><p>"Absolutely not. The neighbors think I'm sick, which I am, and if any of them suspect the details they don't harass me about it."</p><p>&lt;But surely if there are other cases, then there's historical precedent--&gt;</p><p>"If you have a time machine, you can go bother ancient humans and ask them."</p><p>&lt;Time travel is probably a myth. Certainly there would be more immediate repercussions than researching naturally-occurring morphing on your planet.&gt;</p><p>"It was sarcasm."</p><p>&lt;How do you know when you're about to start morphing?&gt;</p><p>"I don't know, I just do. How do people know when they're getting their periods? It happens."</p><p>&lt;What are periods?&gt;</p><p>Cassie rolled her eyes. "Okay, bad example."</p><hr/><p>"It did feel different last time," said Cassie. "Like, the tree was more--alive, I don't know, more tuned in with the birds and the grass and everything. But I think I might just have imagined it based on what you've told me."</p><p>"I'm not sure," Rachel said. "Maybe it's because I was there."</p><p>"You were there?"</p><p>"You said it was all right if I came and hung out. Do you mind? Sometimes I just need to talk to someone without having to, you know. Talk to anyone."</p><p>Cassie shook her head. "You're so weird, and I don't mean because you're part-elephant. Of course. Come by whenever."</p><p>"Thanks," said Rachel quickly, as if she didn't want her gratitude to be lingered on.</p><p>"You can also just talk to me when I'm a person. Like friends do. People."</p><p>"Maybe," said Rachel, in a hasty way that sounded almost like Naomi's "maybe" when it meant "no."</p><hr/><p>For a minute the kid buried in the family size bag of M&amp;Ms looked almost like Tom Berenson. A big, energetic smile that would have fit right in with Jake and Rachel, and an unfocused look in his eyes that made it seem like the M&amp;Ms were the only thing of interest in light-years.</p><p>"This is Ax," said Rachel. "You know. The new guy."</p><p>"Oh," said Cassie. "It's, uh, good to meet you."</p><p>"It is nice to see you as well, Casssss-ieeee."</p><p>"You can't spend all day flirting with her, Ax, some of us want a turn," said Marco, urging Ax back towards the forest he'd chosen as a hideout.</p><p>"Sorry," said Rachel. "I just figured you should be introduced this way. So it's not weird if he recognizes you somewhere."</p><p>"No problem."</p><p>"Do you--um. Would it be weird if I tried to acquire you?"</p><p>"You mean, to turn into me? I'm right here, go for it."</p><p>"Yeah. Well, we were more curious, would it be possible to acquire your DNA when you're shifted? Because you're still human, right. Only we aren't able to acquire DNA from plants."</p><p>"I thought you're trying to sneak into an underground hellpit," said Cassie. "Even if you could, trees aren't very mobile."</p><p>"I get the feeling this is more for Ax's science project if he ever makes it back home. Feel free to tell him no, it's not--it'd be weird if someone just cloned me without asking."</p><p>Cassie laughed. "You're welcome to try, but I can't promise I'll be very useful. I mean, one of me is plenty."</p><p><em>No it isn't,</em> Rachel thought. The world needed more normal people, people like Cassie who didn't sneak into zoos late at night or fight aliens or wonder, deep down, if they kind of <em>liked</em> fighting aliens. Sick or healthy, Cassie was the most normal thing in Rachel's life.</p><p>Maybe she could tell Cassie the tree that, someday. All she could say to Cassie the girl was "Thanks."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Presumably there was no book 4 so Ax's escape/meetup with the others was something more chaotic along the lines of Megamorphs 4. I don't know.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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